“Deceit Magnified: The Western World’s Appraisal of Eelam War IV”by Michael Roberts in FAULTLINES The K.P.S. Gill Journal of Conflict & Resolution Volume 24 September 2019 ……………… https://www.satp.org/Docs/Faultline/24.pdf– with some minor tweaking and the use of highlights to emphasize points of particular value
The last stage of Eelam War IV in Sri Lanka in 2008/09 has generated a large volume of literature. In addressing the issues arising from this work, it is possible to proceed by assertions founded upon previous articles with their supporting evidence.[1]The focus here is on the pursuits of the US State Department through its point man in Colombo, US Ambassador Blake, as well as its ‘auxiliaries’ in the UN and European Union.[2] The arguments here are deliberately provocative. They commence with eleven assertions that highlight a worldwide ignorance of alarming proportions in 2009, a shortcoming that persists today.
Shamindra Ferdinando’s rambling presentation of an Interview with Lord the Michael Naseby has produced some vital information about the creaking inner workings of the British government as well as the circumstances surrounding Lord Naseby’s interventions on behalf of Sri Lanka. Naseby’s assiduous effort to extract the reports sent by the British Defence Attache in Colombo in the year 2009, one Lt. Col. Gash, did not commence till November 2013 when David Cameron, the British PM, was about to head to Sri Lanka for the CHOGM conference – a visit where Cameron played the hero for the British public, the world HR lobbies and the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora.
Michael Roberts, reproducing an essay presented in Colombo Telegraphin 2015 with the title “Secular Fundamentalism in One-Eyed Overkill”…. because of indications that personnel pushing rights-programmes take adamantine positions that blind them to their own distortions and rigidity of stance. There is no better illustration of this tendency than the essays and pursuits of Gordon Weiss since 2009 (see the text below) and the positions adopted by Alan Keenan of the ICG today in 2019 and in the recent past.
attacks on Charlie Hebdo offices by Islamist extremists including the brothers Kouachi – January 2015
Because of such incidents as the Charlie Hebdo killings in January 2015 and the recent assaults in Paris in November 2015 those living in Western countries today are only too aware of the threat posed by Islamic fundamentalists.[1] A tiny minority from within a specific strand of Islam known as Salafi has etched its fundamentalism within world consciousness.[2]
Rajeewa, Thank you for this well researched analysis. It is a well-known fact that if the ‘Western Governments’ requested RW to jump, his reply would be ‘how high’. On a serious note though according to the Sri Lankan constitution is not foreign affairs the sole province of the President who acts through the foreign minister? Any interference into foreign affairs by the Prime Minister must be sanctioned directly by the President. It is also a well-known fact that RW hankers after the powers of the President as he tried on numerous occasions to be elected President and failed dismally. Hence the framing of the 19th amendment that subtly decreased the powers of the President and enhanced the powers of the Prime Minister. Continue reading →
Alan Keenan, in Sri Lanka Mirror, April 2019, where the title runs “Sri Lanka is a ‘nation favourable to the Sinhala Buddhist majority’ –ICG,”
After ten years since the end of the war, Sri Lanka being a country that favours the Sinhala Buddhist majority is detrimental to its progress, an NGO head has warned. The Project Director of International Crisis Group (ICG) Alan Keenan made this statement to the Tamil media after a tour of the North Eastern province and border villages.
Email Note from Gus Mathews in London to Rajeewa Jayaweera in Lanka, 14 March 2019
Rajeewa, Thank you for your analysis.[1] You are absolutely correct that the main objective of the coalition was to prevent a Mahinda Rajapakse return to being President. RW [Ranil Wickremasinghe] had tried numerous times to be President and failed abysmally. So with the aid of the Western countries he embarked on series of actions that would have a puppet President with him wielding executive power. He tried it with Sarath Fonseka with the understanding that once SF became President that he would surrender all his Presidential powers to RW. Unfortunately, it did not work that time despite the minorities voting for SF.
Hassina Leelarathna, …. with her original title being “Mangala’s 30th Anniversary Bash & the Price of Power” …. Visitwww.srilankaexpress.org
A Colombo-based media outlet publicizing “Khema’s Kolla” – Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera’s 30th anniversary in politics – mentions this in the laudatory piece: “It is believed that Mangala is particularly skillful in promoting foreign relations.”
The not-uncommon practice in Sri Lankan journalism of ignoring the basic 5 W’s rule is noteworthy here: who really believes Samaraweera has skillfully promoted his nation’s foreign relations?
Taylor Dibbert is an example of one stream in American academia: armed with a liberal arts degree, peace corps experience and links with the Pacific Forum, HR agencies[1] and such personnel as Frances Harrison,[2] he has now taken on Michael the Lord Naseby (Dibbert 2019). His essay is a shining example of intellectual arrogance and contention by ASSERTION. His assertions on the details of Eelam War IV in its last phase are typical of many writings from an educated bourgeoisie lacking experience in battle theatres. This major deficiency applies to many Sri Lankans as well as Yasmin Sooka, Marzuki Darusman, Ban-Ki-Moon,[3] Alan Keenan[4] and Charu Lata Hogg.[5]
Gerald Peiris and I were undergraduates at Ramanathan Hall Peradeniya in the late 1950s and met on occasions when we were pursuing postgrad studies in UK and I visited Cambridge. Thereafter we were colleagues in the Arts Faculty at Peradeniya University from 1966 to 1975. Quite vitally, we were active members of the Ceylon Studies Seminar. During those seminars and at times in private tête-à-tête over drinks the two of us occasionally engaged in discussions, sometimes with sharp disagreements on specific issues.
Chatham House Public Notice: “A Divided Island: Sri Lanka’s Constitutional Crisis” … 17 January 20191:00pm to 2:00pm ……………….Chatham House | 10 St James’s Square | London | SW1Y 4LE ….. NB: “Chatham House” is The Royal Institute of International Affairs
Overview: …… A decade since the end of Sri Lanka’s 25-year civil war, the country has recently been plunged back into turmoil. A constitutional crisis created by the sacking of Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe by President Maithripala Sirisena, and a plan to replace him with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, paralysed the country’s legislative and executive branches as both Wickramasinghe and Rajapaksa claimed the office of prime minister. Against this background, the panel considers how Sri Lanka’s opaque domestic politics is reflected by the government’s slow progress toward its pledges to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to address accountability and political reconciliation emerging from the country’s 26-year civil war. Looking forward, will Wickramasinghe pursue reconciliation, and accountability for past abuses? And what will Rajapaksa’s disputed return to frontline politics mean for a nation still reconciling the violence of its recent history?
LONDON, UK – Apr 19, 2017: Metropolitan police officers on duty at 10 St James’s Square The Royal Institute of International Affairs Chatham House
